The Ultimate Chase
by FrenchFriesAreTheShiz
Summary: James fell for Lily Evans when they first met, but can he compete with her longterm boyfriend? He's tall, dark, and handsome, but is he really all he's cracked up to be? It's James's last year to try and win her heart. Story is better than summary!


A/N: Okay, so me and two other friends had this idea for a James/Lilly romance. It's our first one ever! So please be nice!! I really hope that you all enjoy it!!

Disclaimer: I think it may be obvious we are not trying to steal Harry Potter as our own. We are just having some fun, so don't sue us!!

Once again, James was sitting at a small table in the Gryffindor common room, pretending to do his homework. When in actuality, he was just watching Lily…with her boyfriend Jonathan. Lily and John had been dating since the middle of their sixth year at Hogwarts. Now that they were seventh years, James knew it was his last chance to win the girl of his dreams.

Jonathan, who was easily the most popular kid in his year, was tall, warm, and very attractive. Although he had a very likeable personality, James could never forgive him the sin of dating Lily. Lily's laugh carried across the room. James became disgusted, so, realizing he couldn't inflict this torture upon himself, he packed up his books and left to find Sirius.

"Oy! Sirius! Over here," James called to his best friend across the crowded dining hall. Sirius, who was chatting animatedly to a gorgeous Ravenclaw, made his way over to the Gryffindor table.

"So, I was just talking to Helen Sparks-"

"Who?" asked James. Sirius had a new female attraction almost every week, and James could hardly ever keep up.

"Helen Sparks…the girl over at the Ravenclaw Table." Sirius glanced over at her, and she smiled and waved. "Well anyways, apparently her cousin is having a huge party tonight and she wants us both to come."

"Well, I guess I'll go if Remus will, because I know that you'll be shoved off in some corner with Holly, or Hannah…or whatever her name is…"

Through a mouthful of pumpkin bread Sirius replied, "Yeah, Holly, oh, wait, Helen. Holly was last week." James rolled his eyes, swallowed the last of his juice, and headed for the quidditch pitch to get in some practice before the party.

The party was everything James had expected: noisy, hot, and extremely boring. Usually he was up for a wild party, but earlier he had noticed Lily and Jonathan sneak off, and the idea of what they might be doing plagued the mood. Remus had refused to come because he felt it would betray his duties as a prefect, and he already had enough guilt sneaking off every month at the full moon. And so, he began to search for his best friend, who was always sure to help him liven up a boring night. He singled him out from the rest of the crowd and strutted over to him.

"Hey Padfoot, this party blows, let's show these people some real entertainment. Where is old Snivelly?" James's eyes held the slightly maniacal glint that they always got at the thought of torturing his nemesis Severus Snape.

"James, can't you see that I'm BUSY?" Sirius snapped nodding fervently at the blonde bimbo at his side.

"Fine," James said irritated. He stomped over to the door and with an annoyed flick of his wand blew up what was undoubtedly a very old and expensive vase. As he left the room he could hear the crowd cheering at his reckless feat. He began to mindlessly wander back to the common room when he heard Lily's distinct voice echoing down the corridor, "Jonathan!" With a clench of his fist he realized what must be happening in that deserted classroom. Fully prepared to pass by as quickly as possible, he was forced to do a double-take when he heard what sounded like muffled sobs.

The hero inside of him welled up, and he couldn't help but sneak up to the door of the room and eavesdrop.

"Lily, how dare you embarrass me in front of my peers like that!?!?!?! I have a reputation to uphold!! They were right when they told me you were nothing but a worthless mud blood!" James nudged the door open a crack just in time to see Jonathan violently grab Lily by the forearm and forcefully shove her against the wall. She slid to the floor sobbing in a desperate stream of apologies. At this sight James couldn't tolerate any more and he burst into the room in a blinded fury.

"WHO THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU WORTHLESS SCUM??!?!?!?!"

"James," Lily sobbed, "no. you shouldn't be here. This isn't your concern."

"Shut up Lily, I can take care of this myself!" Jonathan shouted, and James could've sworn he caught a whiff of fire whiskey on his breath.

Completely forgetting the presence of his wand, James lunged at Jonathan.

Fortunately for James, Jonathan's reaction times were slowed so he had the upper hand. He pinned him up against the wall and holding him by the throat seethed, "How can you treat her like this? Do you even realize what a lucky bastard you are? You don't deserve her!"

Jonathan's face had turned bright red, but at the sound of James's words he grew indignant and pushed him away. Utterly disgusted, James drew back his fist and punched him square in the jaw. Completely prepared to repeat his act of violence, he felt a quivering hand on his arm. "James, please…he really doesn't mean it…" she trailed off, but, looking into her eyes, James couldn't bring himself to disobey her.

"You're not worth all of this Lily Evans. We're done. I'm through with you." Jonathan said as he wiped the blood off of his lip and stormed out of the room, leaving James alone with Lily.

"Are you okay?" James asked, his face full of concern as he turned to look at Lily silently crying in a heap on the floor. He sunk down to her level, and although he was worried as hell for her, he couldn't help but noticed that she was the most beautiful girl in the world even when her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Falling completely under her spell, he gently brushed a tear off of her face with his hand.

"I didn't need your help. I had this under control." Lily said.

"Clearly. Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on your romantic moment." James said sarcastically, trying to cover the fact that he was very hurt. He turned to leave.

"Wait…er…thanks. Umm, will you just, help me get to my feet?" James, who had turned his back to Lily, let a slight smile spread over his face.

"Of course, Lily." James grabbed her by the arm and lifted her up. "You know, you should really be careful who you hang around with. I mean, I just don't understand how you can let him do this to you. Is this the first time?"

Lily paused, and then began to answer, "Yes, he just wasn't himself tonight," but she wouldn't meet his eye.

"Lily, don't lie to me."

"Well, okay, he's done it before, but it's never been this bad before. It's not like you'd know James. You've only ever cared about trying to me impress me in front of him. I don't like to be treated like some kind of token." She looked ashamed. His heart melted at the thought of Lily ever enduring any abuse, and he felt like a jerk. All he ever wanted her to do was like him.

He could tell that she wanted him to drop the subject and, not keen to push her away, he changed the topic.

"Well, do you want me to walk you back to the common room?" He said, offering her his arm. She accepted, and allowed him to escort her through the hallways and back to their room.

Once they had reached the portrait hole, Lily stopped James from entering. "Hey, before we go back in there," she sounded a little tentative, "will you just promise me that you won't talk about this to anyone?"

"Yeah, sure Lily, if that's what you want," James wasn't really thinking about the question, he was more thinking about how much he wanted to kiss her. However, knowing how vulnerable she was right now, he just didn't think it would be right, so he settled for a hug. He wasn't sure how she would take it, seeing as she hated him. As he pulled her body close to his, she leaned her fiery head on his shoulder, and then whispered in his ear, "James, thank you so much. I don't know what I would've done with out you tonight, and I just…" He could tell that she was struggling for words, so he cut her off.

"Hey, Lilly, you don't owe me any gratitude, all you owe me is that this never happens to you again. Okay?" He lifted her head by the chin to look her into her incredible green eyes, and she nodded then, without saying another word she kissed him. Then she turned and went into the common room, and up to bed. James stood at the portrait hole completely perplexed for a good five minutes, and then, without even realizing where he was going, walked through the common room, up the stairs leading to his dormitory and collapsed on his bed.


End file.
